India Threatens to Block Rivers to Pakistan After Attack in Kashmir - Minister

"Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Sri @narendramodi ji, Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab", Gadkari wrote on Twitter.

The minister recalled that the construction of one of the dams on Ravi river, Shahpur-Kandi, had already begun. All government-approved projects under this plan have the status of national projects, he added.

At Least 12 Soldiers Dead, 20 Wounded in Blast in Kashmir - Reports (VIDEO)

14 February 2019, 11:30 GMT

The relations between New Delhi and Islamabad worsened after 14 February, when a car carrying over 100 pounds of explosives was detonated on the Jammu-Srinagar highway next to a security convoy, killing 45 Indian paramilitary officers. This was the biggest terrorist attack in India since 2008, when a terrorist attack in Mumbai killed over 150 people. India has named Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed residing in Pakistan, as the person responsible for ordering the attack.

The group, which used to perpetrate attacks in the Jammu and Kashmir state, is affiliated with Taliban movement and al-Qaeda* terrorist organisation and aims to separate Kashmir from India and to merge it with neighbouring Pakistan.

After the attack, India blamed Pakistan for harbouring and protecting terrorists, accusing the country of having a "direct hand" in the incident. As a punitive measure, India has withdrawn Pakistan's most-favoured nation (MFN) status and raised customs duties on goods imported from Pakistan to 200 percent.

Pakistan has, in turn, rejected the allegations of its involvement in the attack and said that this was New Delhi's strategy to divert international attention from human rights violations taking place in the Kashmir region.